The market has been plodding higher over the past several weeks and despite the lack of stellar, single-session runs, the bulls have fought hard to hold onto those gains. As we head into Tuesday morning, however, the cracks in the rally are beginning to show. The index futures had been trading in a range from the Friday and broke out to the upside Monday morning in premarket trade. Compared to the rally Thursday and into Friday morning, however, the breakout was second-rate.

The indices held resistance at the 10:15 a.m. ET correction period and pulled back strongly throughout the remainder of the morning. It wasn't until noon that they managed to find support. Unfortunately, that support level was the lower end of that previous congestion on the 15 minute charts. This meant that the pace of the morning selloff was now stronger overall than the earlier morning breakout. It made it difficult for the bulls to pull the market higher once again to allow for another change in momentum and a continuation of the breakout into Tuesday morning. Instead, the slower afternoon upside resulted in further selling afterhours and into premarket trade on Tuesday.

About the Author

Toni Hansen is president and co-founder of the Bastiat Group, Inc., DBA Trading From Main Street. Toni is one of the most respected technical analysts and traders in the industry. She has been trading and educating new traders, money managers, professional market analysts and traders throughout the boom and bust of the last decade. She has worked in conjunction with some of the world's top financial exchanges. Learn more about Toni Hansen and the educational services she provides through her website at http://www.tonihansen.com.